Just Breathe
by bl1the
Summary: Bakugou is diagnosed with PTSD following multiple run ins with evil at a young age. Fortunately, there is a certain nerd seeing him through it.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't the first time this had happened. More than once Katsuki found himself wandering the dorms of UA to find a distraction from the static in his head. Late at night, after the subconscious part of his brain tortured him with dreams that would jolt him awake in a cold sweat and a burning in his stomach, he meandered around the building until the fog had lifted from his mind and he was able to sleep again. The pro heroes had urged to his parents after the sludge villian attack to take him to a therapist, as something like that happening to someone so young could very well have a lasting effect on a person's emotional stability, but it wasn't until after returning home from the League of Villian's base that they took up the suggestion.

He had started spacing out; one minute he would be completely normal and then a brush against his wrist or a hand on his neck would send him away, and then he was back in chains, unable to do anything but wait and hope the pros were coming to find him. Memories would hit him randomly; he would go to get something to snack on and end up staring blankly into the refridgerator for fifteen minutes. His mother had noticed it first; the way his shoulders would stiffen and his eyes would gloss over, it was clear that in his mind he wasn't there, in the present, he was somewhere else entirely. The therapy sessions in and of themselves weren't very productive -more often than not he would just sit on the couch with a gloomy look of distaste until the clock ran out- but knowing that there was a reason this was happening to him, and that he wasn't alone, reassured him.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," he had been told, "is something that happens to a person after experiencing a particular stressful or traumatizing event. A combat veteran, for example, might jump at the sound of a firework going off close by because of past experiences of being shot at. People who have been violently assaulted will flinch if you try to touch them without warning or consent. Stress, fear, and anxiety are all emotions we have to keep us alive; our body will always alert us to danger in any way it can. Sometimes after going through something dangerous your body will overcompensate, so the danger doesn't happen again."

The flashbacks, the goosebumps, the cold sweats, the way his heart would drop into his stomach whenever he saw a hand get just a little too close: it all made a lot more sense to him now, but that didn't stop how utterly fucking annoying it was. Honestly, emotions were such a nuisance sometimes. He didn't want to admit it, but his therapist had given him some really good fucking advice, and he had taken a lot of it into practice. He had started a routine; whenever he had dreams bad enough to wake him up, he would walk through the rooms of the dorms and ground himself. "Grounding," as it had been explained to him, was something he could do to bring his mind back into the present.

It sounded stupid at first, but sitting on the floor, feeling the cold tiles against his skin, and saying "You are at UA high, you're in the kitchen, and you're safe" really did help. The worse the dream was, the longer he wandered from room to room, sifting through memories of cooking with his classmates or studying or playing Smash Bros with Kirishima (the only one who still agreed to play with him). He used to see the "triggered" memes on the internet all the time and chuckle, how silly and fragile people must be to get so upset over something so small. But now he got it, how debilitating it could really be. One moment he would be in class, and the next minute he would be in that alley, fighting to keep that sickly smelling sludge from sliding into his mouth and down his throat. It was exhausting to keep up with. Tonight was no exception.

He had been dreaming about him again. That guy with the weird hands all over his body. The grip that had encased his nape without warning and pulled him away into a dark and unfamiliar territory, surrounded by people he was sure wanted him to suffer. When he woke he could still feel a burning on the back of his neck where his clammy hand had been. A solid five minutes of deep breathing had slowed his heart down enough to think clearly again, and soon he found himself taking the stairs down to the first floor, through the common room and into the kitchen. It wasn't the first time he had been out of bed and out of bounds at damn near three in the morning, but it was the first time he had caught someone else in the action, as well.

As he turned the corner into the kitchen, he saw one of his classmates slouched over the counter, his head resting on the granite, turned toward the small screen in his hand. He had left the kitchen lights dimmed, but Bakugo caught the green tint of the mass of hair covering his freckled face. Usually Katsuki's first reaction was to yell, it always was when Deku was concerned. But the last time they had been out of bounds together they had literally beaten the crap out of each other, and he discovered since then a lot of his anger towards Deku had deflated. He didn't feel the urge to take everything out on him anymore, at least, and he certainly did not have the energy to expel at the moment, so instead he settled for taking a seat next to him.

And Deku didn't even notice. He had been so wrapped up in whatever article he was reading that he didn't realize the seat next to him had been filled until Katsuki cleared his throat.

"Kacchan!" he exclaimed, raising both arms in alarm and shielding his face with the phone in his hand. "How long have you been there?" He said after the initial shock had worn off. "It's really late, why are you awake right now?" Katsuki scoffed. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He pulled each ankle up onto the stool and crossed his legs indian style, putting both elbows on the counter and lacing his fingers together. Deku smirked. "Do you think I would ask you if I didn't want to know?" He jeered. "Yes," Katsuki scoffed, "you're a nosy little fucker. Always sticking your head where it doesn't belong."

"I couldn't sleep. It's too quiet in my dorm room. I've been here for months now and I'm still not used to it." Deku looked down at his phone, clicked the lock button and set it on the counter next to him. "In our old neighborhood there were cars and trains and animals making noise at all hours, I guess living in the same place your whole life will mess with you. It's totally silent up here, it throws me off."

"It almost makes your dreams sound louder," Katsuki found himself responding before he could stop himself. "You met that Shigaraki guy up close and personal last year, didn't you?" Deku didn't do a very good job of hiding his surprise at this sudden outburst, but he answered truthfully. "Yeah, when the whole class got together at the mall that one time, he cornered me after everyone had split up. I was by myself. Stupid move on my part, honestly." They sat together in silence for a while, watching the clock on the microwave tick away the minutes.

"It's like, his hand is so cold it feels like it's burning you." Katsuki was staring at his hands, unable to look his classmate in the eye. He could feel his cheeks redden, but the floodgates had been opened. Either his therapist or this little nerd had gotten to him. Probably a combination of both. "I can never figure out if it's because of his quirk or if it's because he's so damn disgusting and terrifying, the way his skin feels is like an assault in and of itself. Like he's so evil the very act of touching you is painful. Or maybe it's you and how your body reacts to threats. Like you know you have to get away from the guy so your nerves are on high alert. I can't figure it out. Whether I'm awake or asleep." He could feel his cheeks starting to burn now. Was he getting soft? Why all of a sudden were the thoughts he was trying to sort out on his own falling out of his mouth? And to _Deku_ , of all fucking people?

"No, I know what you mean." Deku said, quietly. "Now that I know what he is and what he can do, now that I've witnessed it firsthand, there's not a lot that scares me more than that. Sometimes I jump out of my skin when somebody touches me without warning. I know it's stupid and there's no reason for me to be afraid, but that doesn't stop my body from reacting the way it does." Katsuki looked up at this. Without meaning to, Deku had put a thought into words that Bakugo had not been able to before.

"Ever since I came back from the villain's headquarters I've had this invisible bubble around me that I can't see, but I can sense it. And when someone pops that bubble all the alarms go off in my head and they're all telling me to take out the threat, even if-"

"there's no threat to take out." Their eyes met. How had Katsuki forgotten about that? He wasn't the only person the villain had put his hands on. This wasn't something he had to keep to himself, he could talk about it. And this fucking nerd had been there right alongside him the whole time, probably thinking the same thing. He had already seen him cry -more than once, now that he thought about it- and his therapist had been nagging him to confide in someone who had similar experiences. So he kept going. They managed to stay in the kitchen talking -actually, _really_ talking to one another- for damn near two hours before they realized the sun had begun to peek through the twilight outside.

Katsuki had meant to take a walk around the grounds and head back to bed for a few more hours' restless sleep, but after noting the sky had begun to turn a deep purple, ("holy shit, the sun is coming up already? What a waste of time I could have been sleeping, damn Deku!") he climbed the stairs back to his room only when the other students had started to wake and begin their daily search for breakfast. His classmates could eat without him, he was spending the first half of the off day asleep. He climbed back under the soft covers and couldn't help smiling at how much lighter his heart felt. Maybe his therapist was on to something.


	2. Chapter 2

"No fucking way."

"I'm dead serious dude, come look!" Kaminari was grabbed by the wrist and pulled down to the ground, albeit a little forcefully. Kirishima had done the pulling, now shimmying across the kitchen floor towards the counter that was currently hiding the two teenagers from the common area ahead. "Don't be too obvious, or they'll see us." Kaminari rolled his eyes as he watched his classmate inch his large, very obvious bundle of red locks over the counter so he could peer beyond it. Following suit, his jaw dropped. Sitting on the couch sifting over his notes and mumbling as usual was Izuku. In and of itself that wasn't a surprise to anyone, it was the fact that Bakugou had taken his fresh cup of coffee from the kitchen and plopped down on the cushion right next to him.

"Just look at them." Kirishima said in awe.

"Is Bakugou high?"

"Do you think they made up?"

"Are they like, friends now?"

"Did Bakugou spike his coffee?"

"Just _look at them!"_

"What are you two doing?"

Kaminari jumped at the sudden voice next to him. "Todoroki, you can't just give away our position like that!"

"You know we could see you two dumbasses the whole time, right?" Bakugou glared at the three of them over Izuku's head. Shouto stood next to the two wide sets of eyes still hiding behind the kitchen counter. It was actually a pretty funny sight, but Bakugou's pride wouldn't give them the satisfaction of making him laugh. They were spying, after all. Can't a guy sit and enjoy his coffee in peace?

"Shouldn't you be yelling right now, Bakugou?" Kirishima jeered as he pulled himself upright, a shit eating grin on his face. "Normally by now you start yelling 'damn deku' this and 'die scum' that. What happened, man? Did Midoriya beat all the fight out of you after the provisional licence exam?" A few of the classmates shared a laugh; however Bakugou's glare intensified. "Shut up, I don't yell all the time about every fucking thing. _"_

"Yes, you do." Shouto, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Izuku all said at the same time. This roused another bout of laughter from the group.

"You were screaming 'fuck you lousy germs' at your toothbrush the other day"

"Do you guys remember when he called the ps4 a 'lying sack of bastard' for saving his game wrong?"

"Or when Momo's parents brought her dog up here to visit and he taught her how to 'play dead' by yelling die over and over again until she fell over?"

"Aw come on, Kacchan, we were just messing around, sit down!" Surprising everyone, Izuku had laced his fingers around Katsuki's right arm and pulled him back down onto the couch when he tried to get up and walkaway. Even more surprising, Katsuki let him. Plopping back down onto the couch, he took a few long sips from his mug, hoping the ceramic hid some of the pink undoubtedly spreading across his cheeks. When he looked up, he could see the clearly amused and bewildered faces of his classmates, but none of them spoke up. Whether they thought it was cute or they were afraid of getting their faces blown off, he couldn't guess. He was just relieved no one pointed out the elephant in the room.

It had been two months since Katsuki had stumbled upon his classmate late at night when they were both supposed to be good little sleeping students. His dreams were letting up, and more and more he found himself accompanied by the small green haired dork whenever he sought respite from his subconsciousness. Being able to talk to someone about the things his mind plagued him with was really starting to have an effect on him. Yeah, he still couldn't stop the dreams from coming, but they were beginning to be easier to manage. He wasn't spacing out as much, he was able to concentrate more in class. He wasn't even yelling as much as he used to, something the entire class of 1-A had clearly noticed.

One night, after about a month and a half of wandering the grounds until he found Deku -or Deku found him- he skipped walking around the dorms entirely and went straight to Deku's door. If Deku was surprised, he did a good job of hiding it. He opened the door and simply stood aside to let Katsuki cross the threshold. "Bad dream?" Katsuki just nodded. Normally he would want to talk about it, saying it out loud helped him process his thoughts much better than anything else he had tried, but that night the words wouldn't come. He tried more than once, each time it got caught at the back of his throat and threatened to bring his dinner up with it if he tried to force it out. He sat at the edge of the bed for a while, trying to form the words.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. Sometimes just not being alone will help." Deku had climbed back into his bed, shifting under the covers so he was closest to the wall. Getting the hint, Katsuki followed suit. They turned their backs to each other, but Deku was right. Just being near him was enough to unrattle Katsuki's brain. He found himself drifting away rather quickly, and the next thing he knew the morning alarm was going off. He had gone to Deku's room after everyone else had gone to sleep almost every night after that, noticing that as long as he was with Deku, his dreams left him alone.

Inadvertently, the two of them had become accustomed to the other's company. More and more they were seen together, interacting, or otherwise just being in close proximity to each other. Instead of huffing and puffing and throwing a fit whenever Deku was in his line of sight, Katsuki began to let a lot more things slide. He was mellowing out, and the sudden change was shocking to everyone, including himself.

"Okay, so I have to ask." Kaminari said, taking a seat on top of the coffee table so he could look both Bakugou and Midoriya in the eyes. "Are you two friends again? What is this? What's going on here?" He pointed from one to the other, noting the fact that both Midoriya's and Bakugou's faces had begun to turn pink, but he thought it best to keep that to himself for now.

"I wouldn't call it friends-"

"I don't hate him as much as I hate the rest of you losers." This time when Katsuki made to leave the room, Izuku didn't stop him. After he was out of sight, the group broke into conversation again. "Well that was unexpected."

"He doesn't hate you? That's kinda shocking if you ask me. From day one here it looked like he loathed your guts." Izuku broke into a smile, he couldn't help it.

"I don't think he ever really _hated_ me, he has a lot of misplaced anger. I was just the easiest person to take it out on. But he's been getting much better at handling it."

"Aw, baby Bakugou's growing up!"

"It's about time he got his shit together. Do you think the yelling will stop completely?"

"I doubt it will ever totally stop. It _is_ Bakugou we're talking about after all."

Everyone who had been in the kitchen migrated to the common room after the seat next to Deku had been vacated. Todoroki took the place of Bakugou, Kaminari and Kirishima splayed out across the coffee table like savages. "I tell you what, Midoriya, I'd say he's really calmed down after that fight you guys had. I don't know what happened out there but I think whatever it was really opened up a few doors between you guys." Kirishima gave Izuku a sly wink, which resulted in Midoriya -unsuccessfully- trying to hide the blush creeping up his face with the notes he had sprawled across his lap. "I don't know about all that…"

"Are you kidding me? You guys went from 'I'll fucking kill you nerd' to 'I don't hate you.' That's a big difference where Bakugou is concerned. He doesn't even yell at you anymore!" Izuku smiled again at this remark. It was true; in fact, it had been a whole four days since Bakugou had raised his voice at all, not including video game time. If you didn't yell at the tv while playing Smash Bros you were doing it wrong. "Whatever you guys are doing when we aren't around, keep doing it. You'll make a ray of sunshine out of him yet, Midoriya."


	3. Chapter 3

Deku was sprawled across his bed, his back on the soft covers, staring up at the ceiling with homework papers scattered around him. Katsuki had taken the floor close by and sat with his back against the bed, not wanting to admit he totally could have used the desk across the room but that would mean being farther away from Deku. They had been studying, or trying, but after an hour they began to lose motivation as well as the ability to concentrate. So now they sat in comfortable silence, Katsuki rummaging through the social media accounts on his phone and Izuku trying one last time to retain some of the information he copied down earlier today during lessons.

"This is hopeless." Huffing, he straightened into a sitting position and began aggressively organizing his notes to put them back into their respective folders. "My brain is saying 'no, I've learned enough already. I don't need more things to keep track of.' It's like I'm trying to shove more trash into a can that's already full. This is bullshit." Katsuki looked up in surprise.

"Did you just curse?" He said, a smirk sweeping over his face. "We hang out too much, I'm starting to rub off on you."

"Yeah well, you've been attached to my hip for months now, it shouldn't be surprising."

"I am not attached, you fucker. You're just convenient to be around."

"Yeah, like I'd believe that! You talk big but you're really just a huge softie."

"What the fuck did you just call me, nerd?"

"You're a big cuddly teddy bear at heart, especially when you're tired. You just don't want to admit it." Izuku was grinning now, clearly enjoying finally being able to talk back to his old elementary school friend without fear of getting his face blown off. Being the only emotional outlet Katsuki had had it's perks.

"Name one time I've ever acted like a damn teddy bear."  
"Last night."

Katsuki raised his eyebrow. "What a load of crap. I came in here and passed out immediately. I call bullshit."

"Yeah, but you don't know what you do when you're sleeping, do you?" The sudden hotness in his face and the unmistakable look of victory sweeping across Deku's both told Katsuki that he was now blushing, and he hated it.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"After you fall asleep you scooch closer to me." Katsuki's face was getting hotter. More than once he had woken in the morning to find Deku smushed against the wall with their backs touching. Neither of them had brought it up before now. "You must have been dreaming about something, because you flipped over and put your arm around my waist. I think I remember hearing something about 'zuku' after you did that, too."

Katsuki's face felt like it was on fire. "Shut up! You're lying, you bastard! I would never fucking do that!"

"Then why is your face so red, then?" Katsuki wish he could smack off the absolute shit-eating grin that had accompassed Deku's whole face in that moment. He hated every minute of this. The worst part was he knew Deku was right. Truth be told, Katsuki could be one cuddly motherfucker. It was just that no one was worthy or willing enough to be the recipient. All the aggression in his personality had scared everyone off. Everyone except this fucking dork.

Izuku had always been very open and honest about his feelings, even when they were very small. He was never afraid to talk about his emotions, never shied away from showing how he felt. He had cried more than once during class, and Katsuki would never forget the sports festival, when he burst into tears and openly wept on national television for qualifying for the next round. Part of that is what made it so easy to open up to him; Deku would never judge you for the way you felt unless it was putting yourself or another person in direct harm. It was okay to be angry, to be frustrated and sad. To be everything all at once and to be nothing at all. Whatever it was, Deku was always there. Night after night, Katsuki poured out the trauma, and Izuku was there next to him to help him sort it out and put it all back together. It was honestly kind of crazy how invested Deku was, considering all Katsuki had done to push him away over the years. It made him feel stupid now, thinking back. The kid had only ever looked up to him, but Katsuki punished him for it because he didn't see his own self worth.

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" Katsuki said, uncomfortably aware that he probably looked like a tomato by now. His palms were sweating; this was new territory for him. He had gotten used to opening up about his trauma and how it affected him, but he had never, not once in his life tried to talk about his need to be close to someone. For his whole life, he had tried to ignore that part of himself. He couldn't wrap his head around the whole intimacy/affection thing, so he shoved thoughts of being the little spoon and rubbing noses with someone else into the corners of his mind. He didn't have time to deal with that shit if he was going to be the greatest hero, after all. At least that's what he told himself.

"Honestly? I thought it was cute."

 _Oh God,_ Katsuki thought. _This is not happening. Deku did_ not _just call me cute._

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

"I know that encounter with Shigaraki changed how you are around people." When Katsuki looked up to meet his classmates eye, he noticed he wasn't smiling or jeering anymore. He had a serious look on his face. "You were never one to be close to people in general, but after we got you back from the League of Villains, you were different. Nobody got close to you, even on accident. You made sure of that. I noticed. If someone gets close enough to reach out their arm and touch you, they're too close. You back away from people frequently, you have to be at least a full cushion away from someone if you're sitting on the couch together. But you let your guard down with me, especially when you're asleep. Call me what you want, but I think it's charming." It was clear from his facial expression that Izuku wasn't trying to poke fun at him anymore, he was being sincere. It made the blush on Katsuki's face even worse, if that was possible.

"Yeah well, you _would_ notice something like that, you damn nerd. Always carrying a notebook around to spy on people."

"I have three dedicated to just you, you know." He couldn't help it, a small smile peeked out of the corner of Katsuki's mouth. His head dropped and he took to staring at his hands in his lap so he didn't have to see those big green eyes anymore.

"Oh, shut it already."

Neither one of them spoke for a while, they were both trying to mentally grasp what had just happened. Katsuki had put a mental wall between them years ago; after their fight at Ground Beta the wall had developed a crack, and it was getting bigger.

"Kacchan I… can I ask you something? It's kind of personal." Katsuki looked up to meet Izuku's eyes, but when he did he found Izuku looking down at his hands, avoiding eye contact.

"Well you've embarrassed me plenty tonight, spit it out already."

"You know my mom put me in therapy a while ago, right?" Katsuki nodded, but sat silently on the floor beside the bed, curious -albeit a little apprehensive- about where this was going. "One day I was talking about Shigaraki and she explained something to me about 'good touch vs. bad touch.' You go through something scary that involves someone putting their hands on you and your body can start reacting negatively to any physical contact after that because it's prepared for a 'bad touch.' I had my mom and All Might and all our classmates. I could take a step back and think 'do I trust this person, do I want them to touch me, is this a good touch or a bad touch?' But you've been keeping your distance from everyone. How do you deal with it?"

Katsuki took a moment to respond. It's not that he didn't have an answer, he just didn't want to say it out loud. "Not very well, if I'm being honest." He ran a hand through his hair lazily, trying to think of a way to best put it into words. "I don't really remember ever having a 'good touch', or how you put it. My mom always smacks me around and I never let any of my friends put a hand on me, friendly or otherwise. Everything has pretty much always been a bad touch." They were both silent for a moment, then,

"Kacchan, can I try something?" Katsuki raised his eyebrows, clearly suspicious.

"You can pull back at any time, but I really think this will help you."

"What are you going to do?

"I'm going to give you a good touch." Bakugou couldn't help it. He snorted.

"Are you kidding me, Deku?" he said through his barely contained laughter. He knew Deku wanted to help, but he really should have worded that better.

"Just trust me, okay?" His brows furrowed as he looked up at the green haired boy above him, but he nodded. This was Deku, he was never going to do anything to hurt Katsuki, and he knew that. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he trusted the nerd.

"Lean back against the bed, look at the desk. Your neck needs to be facing me." He was wary, but he did as he was told. As annoying as he may be, Katsuki knew Deku had his best interest at heart. He always did. "Tell me if you want me to stop." As soon as he got adjusted, he felt fingers in his hair. He thought Deku was going to go for his neck, but he pushed his fingertips through the blond locks and started lightly scratching the scalp at the top of his head. It was automatic; his shoulders tensed and he could feel goosebumps sprouting along his neck and down his arms despite himself. Izuku paused at this reaction, but when Katsuki remained silent and made no effort to move away, he continued in small circles around the top of his head and behind his ears. After the initial shock had worn off, Katsuki had to admit it felt pretty amazing. He closed his eyes and leaned into it, suddenly finding it difficult not to let small noises slip past his lips. _This must be how dogs feel when you pet them,_ he thought. Deku suddenly burst into giggles. "I mean, it is pretty much the same thing as petting a dog. You have a lot of hair." Katsuki's face exploded in a new wave of redness as he realized he had accidentally said that last part out loud.

"Tell anyone about this and you're dead."

"Of course. Your secret's safe with me."


	4. Chapter 4

"You have too much All Might shit." Bakugou lay on his back, underneath the All Might comforter, looking around at the excessive amount of red white and blue coating the walls, shelves, and practically every other surface of Deku's room. "He's your teacher now, for Christ's sake. _And_ you're closer to him than any of the other students because of One for All. Shouldn't you tone it down a little?" He turned on his side to face his sleepy classmate. The end of the word "MIGHT" was peeking at him through his peripheral vision on his left side. Katsuki wouldn't deny having his fair share of All Might merchandise, but in his opinion this was a little past overkill. "Do you really need 80 million All Might posters and figurines? How much did you spend on all this crap?"

"It's 8 in the morning, Kacchan, and it's saturday. It's too early to be asking me so many questions. Go back to sleeep." The last word was drawn out as a yawn took over Deku's whole body. His arms slipped out from under the covers and over his head. Pointing his toes, he turned slightly on his side and let a long stretch make it's way through him. When he was done his arms fell back onto the pillow and he heaved a great sigh as he prepared to drift off again.

"The sun is up, so I'm up. And a hundred All Mights are staring at me from every direction."

"You never complained before." Deku smiled, though his eyes were shut tight. They had no homework, no extra curricular activities, no training camps; nothing was getting in the way of his only opportunity of the week to sleep in, not even Kacchan. "Go. Back. To. Sleep."

"But. I. Don't. Wanna." Despite himself, Deku let slip a series of giggles. He didn't want to admit it, but he rather liked the way Kacchan's voice sounded when he wasn't yelling. When he was just talking -no grit or anger behind the words- it was soft and warm. If honey had a sound, it would be Kacchan's voice. He couldn't help being giddy at the sound of it.

"What are you all smiley about, dork?" He turned his head and opened his sleep covered eyes to find red ones looking back at him. He was glad his arm was hiding half his face, because the look he was getting sent a hot flare right to his cheeks. He was so used to seeing Katsuki's face flushing with pride or arrogance or fury, it was a little surprising -even after nearly a month of falling asleep in the same bed- to see him so calm and relaxed and, were the corners of his mouth turning up? _No,_ he thought. _Kacchan doesn't smile. I'm still dreaming._

"Go back to bed, Kacchan. Or go downstairs and get some breakfast. But bring me back a muffin or something." He closed his eyes and rolled over to face the wall, pulling his arms in front of him and gathering a bundle of blanket to his chest. "I'm not getting out of this bed until I have to." And with that he drifted back off to sleep, only too aware that Katsuki had made absolutely no effort to get up and leave while he did so.

.

A soft buzzing behind Izuku's head alerted his brain and jump started his journey back into consciousness. As his senses began to come back online he noticed a heavy presence behind him, and a few seconds later he realized the presence was moving, slowly and repetitively. He felt pressure behind his head, and a warm breeze was playing across his neck. He opened his eyes, just barely, and saw an arm draped around his waist. The moving weight behind him was Kacchan, fast asleep and snuggled comfortably into his back. His left arm had somehow snaked its way underneath Deku's neck without him noticing, and the other had wrapped around Deku's side and lay just under his arm. If he twisted his wrist just so, he could probably slip his hand into his classmate's. Katsuki had hiked up his knees and pulled Deku into him, effectively spooning him. The sound his sleeping brain had mistaken for buzzing had been Katsuki snoring softly into the base of his hair, and the hot air against his neck turned out to be escaping from Katsuki's lips. Their shirts had lifted up in their sleep, and Deku could feel Kacchan's skin playing against his back as he breathed.

It had only happened one other time, but it had been just an arm around his middle. And even then, Kacchan had slept like that for a mere 5 minutes before he rolled onto his other side and continued snoring. This was different. Kacchan was being much more affectionate this time; his subconscious had clearly made a tangible effort to pull Deku as close to him as possible. For a while Deku simply let it happen. What was the point of moving and waking Kacchan up? It would probably just make him mad, and besides it was warm and cozy in his embrace. Why ruin it? He closed his eyes again and decided he would either fall back asleep or simply pretend he was until Kacchan woke up or rolled over. It happened quicker than he would have liked.

After about 20 minutes Katsuki began to stir. The snoring stopped with a small snort, and movement behind Deku's head told him Kacchan was slowly becoming aware of all the hair in his face. Katsuki lifted his head up in alarm, took a deep breath and (to Deku's surprise) let his head fall back down on the pillow. "Damn nerd. How are you still sleeping?" Deku's face flushed when he felt the other boy nuzzle his nose back into his hair. It was so adorable it made his heart hurt a little bit. _Who would have thought Mr. explodo boy would be so snuggly?_

They stayed like that for another half hour, both of them awake but neither willing to alert the other of this fact. It was too warm, too comfortable. Only when Deku chanced a glance at the clock on his wall and realized with alarm that it was nearly 12:30 in the afternoon did he begrudgingly start wiggling around, acting like he had been asleep this whole time and was just now starting to wake up. Kacchan picked up on this quickly and pulled his arms away from the other boy, rolling onto his back.

"You awake yet, dork? You slept the whole morning away." Deku turned from the wall to face him, noting with a small smile that Katsuki's cheeks were dusted with pink. _He doesn't want to talk about it, but he's not angry about it, either. Hell, I'll take it._

"You could have left whenever you wanted to. S'not my fault you chose to stay in here with me." Katsuki snorted.

"Like I had anything better to do today. And anyway, it is too your fault, your bed is more comfortable than mine."

"Kacchan, we live in dorms. They gave all the students the exact same beds. Yours is identical to mine."

"Tch. I beg to fucking differ. They definitely gave you a nicer bed." Katsuki sat upright and twisted out of the sheets. As he stood he reached his arms towards the ceiling and let loose a small grunt as he stretched the remnant sleepiness out of his body. Deku sat up in his bed and lifted his arms in the air to stretch out his limbs, too, but did not bother trying to get out of bed. All the attention he had been given this morning, as well as the noise that had just come out of Kacchan, had left him with a small problem he was going to have to take care of alone.

"I really doubt that they gave me a nicer bed than everyone else. I think you're just partial to mine because of how soft my All Might comforter set is." Katsuki let loose a chuckle and made his way slowly to the door.

"You never did tell me how much all this crap was worth. You fell asleep before you answered any of my questions." He put his hand on the doorknob, but left it there motionless as he turned to face the green haired boy once more. His face was still pink, clearly still trying not to think about how he had woken up with Deku literally cradled in his arms. Deku had pointed it out last time, like hell he was going to bring it up again and risk ruining the moment.

"Honestly there's probably over 800 dollars worth of merchandise in here." Katsuki's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Yeah, well, the comforter set was like $120, the posters were about 10 dollars each and all those figurines didn't come cheap. Two of them are at least 300 dollars each. That pencil holder shaped like All Might's head was 20 bucks." A giggle or two slipped past Izuku's lips at the expression his classmate was giving him.

"You are one dedicated fanboy."

"Hey, go big or go home."

"Ha. Clearly." Katsuki began turning the knob to leave, probably to change out of his pajamas and head downstairs for some food since he had been in bed all day, but stopped.

"What?" He asked, taking his hand off the doorknob and crossing his arms, still looking at Deku with a blush on his face.

"What?" Deku repeated, alarmed.

"Your face. What's with the face? Spit it out." Damn, Kacchan was perceptive when he wanted to be.

"Well, it's just… We've both been gone all morning. Everyone else probably noticed. Aren't you nervous they're going to catch on?" Deku looked down at his hands.  
"What are you talking about? Catch on to what? That I've been sleeping in here?" Deku simply nodded. "They all already know, you damn nerd." At this, Deku looked up in surprise. He had kept his mouth shut about all of this, not wanting to attract attention and scare Kacchan away. He wasn't doing this just so Kacchan could sleep better, after all. Yeah, he wanted Kacchan to get better; he had been diagnosed by a professional and he wanted to do everything he could to help. But the truth was Deku had more than admired him since they were kids. There had never been anybody else, and there probably wasn't ever going to be, as far as Izuku was concerned.

"Kirishima heard me when I started wandering around late at night, our dorms are right next to each other. When I started leaving and not coming back, he started asking questions. I wasn't about to make up some bullshit lie to my best friend, it's too much work. And shitty hair has never been able to keep his mouth shut about anything. He blabbed to the rest of the class almost instantly. Why are you fucking looking at me like that?" Kacchan had been blushing practically since he woke up, but it was dramatically getting worse because Deku's face had broken into such a sweet smile it made his heart lurch into his stomach.

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"You would have known if you paid any damn attention, Deku." He turned away from the direction of the bed and reached out for the doorknob once more, trying to hide the fact that Izuku had such a strong effect on him. Whether he admitted it or not, nobody had been able to get Katsuki flustered like that. No one except Deku, of course. He was a real pain in the ass that way. He made it real hard to concentrate sometimes. "I'm getting food, I've been in here all god damn day and I'm starving. You coming?" Now it was Izuku's turn to go red in the face again.

"Oh! No I think I'll hang back here for a while. I've got emails and stuff to check up on." That was a lie. He was definitely locking the door and crawling back in bed after Katsuki left.

"Whatever."

"Hey, about what you said before."

"Hmm?"

"Why don't I be the judge of whose bed is better? You've been in both of ours but I've only ever been in mine. I think you're biased. You need a second opinion." The corners of Katsuki's mouth turned up at this.

"You wanna sleep in my bed tonight, is that what you're saying?"

"Yup," Deku said, grinning now.

"Fine. It'll be a nice change of scenery. I won't feel like All Might is watching me through that bobble head on your desk." And with that, he turned the doorknob and crossed the threshold into the hallway beyond. After he door closed, Izuku waited for the footsteps to recede all the way down the hall before getting up and locking his door.

"Holy shit." He said quietly, letting his forehead rest against the cold wood. The grin on his face grew wider as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on you guys, this is the only chance we're probably ever gonna get! Everybody knows girls are more laid back when they're drunk, this could be the day we see some boobs!"

"Alright, I have had _just about enough_ of you!" Kaminari, a sour look on his face, grabbed Mineta by the ear and dragged him away from the rest of the group. They turned the corner and disappeared out of sight from the bundle of students huddled around the kitchen counter.

"Where did it come from?" Sero asked, picking up one of the bottles.

"Mineta acquired it through means he plans on keeping secret. Probably illegally." Iida replied; a sour look had planted itself on his face, as well. "Just shameful. How he got it on school grounds is beyond me. How should we dispose of it?"

"I've got an idea." Everyone's heads turned to Kirishima, who had grabbed a bottle from the counter and twisted the top off. Ignoring the shouts from his classmates, he put the mouth of the bottle to his lips and took a swig. This turned out to be a bad idea. Spitting and coughing, he slammed the bottle back down. "What the hell is this crap? It's terrible! Why do people drink this stuff?"

"Drink what stuff?" The boys' heads turned once more to see Asui and Ururaka entering the kitchen through the common area, Kaminari following behind.

"Where's Mineta?"

"In my closet," Kaminari said with a grin. "I put a chair under the door handle so he couldn't escape. Gonna give him some time to think about his actions."

"Dude, you know he's just gonna beat his meat the whole time he's in there, right?"

"Kirishima!" Izuku, Iida, and Kaminari all exclaimed, clearly horrified. "Resist such foul language in front of the girls!" Iida was doing that weird arm flailing thing, so everyone knew he was being serious.

"Oh, relax, Iida. It's not like we haven't heard it all before. So what's all the commotion about?" Ururaka waded her way through her classmates to get a look at what everyone else had been exclaiming about. There were three bottles: one had a caramel colored liquid inside, one was clear, and the last a disturbingly bright green. "This one looks like poison," she said, pointing at the green bottle. A look at the label told her it was green apple flavored vodka.

"It's all basically poison. And you're supposed to mix it in with other shit, Kirishima, not just chug it straight from the bottle." Katsuki looked over at his friend who had only just now stopped coughing, his eyes red and watery. Katsuki was getting very good at calling people dumbasses with just his facial expression, and it was thanks to Kirishima. "The shit is like 40 percent alcohol, hair-for-brains."

"Well how was I supposed to know that?!"

"Common fucking sense? Read the god damn label before you go chugging all willy nilly!"

"Alright, enough you two. I'm taking these to Mr. Aizawa right away to have them disposed." Iida went to grab for the bottles, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He turned in alarm to discover it was _Izuku_ who had stopped him. "Midoriya! What are you doing? We have to get rid of this posthaste!"

"Think about it, Iida. Kirishima already opened one of them, and this one," he picked up the clear bottle, "was half empty when Mineta put it on the counter. If we give it to Aizawa now he's going to think we were drinking it, which Kirishima already did. He's going to punish all of us for this if he finds out." He set the bottle back down on the counter, resisting the urge to laugh at how surprised everyone looked at his sudden outburst.

"Well what do you think we should do with it, then?" Tsu asked, picking up the caramel colored bottle and reading the paper label slapped onto its face. "Whiskey? This is strong stuff."

"We should dump the half empty one down the drain for sure, there's no telling what Mineta did to it. But the seals on the other ones weren't broken, it would seem like a waste to just throw it away."

"You're not seriously suggesting we drink it, are you?" Ururaka asked. Bakugou couldn't help smirking at this. The little nerd was getting more and more ballsy the more they were around each other. It was totally his fault, he was sure of it, but he found he didn't really seem to mind. Izuku placed a hand behind his head and scratched nervously.

"Well, there's enough people here where we could all have some and not drink too much. And there's juice and pop and stuff in the fridge so we could mix it together."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Kirishima slapped Izuku on the back, who was now turning red and strongly resisting the urge to cover his face.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, all of you!" Iida's arms had started flailing again; he was clearly flustered about all of this. What made matters worse was no one seemed to be too keen on getting rid of the alcohol except him. Damn teenagers.

"Well if it's mixed with something else, and we drink plenty of water and have some snacks, too, I don't see the harm in it." Todoroki had spoken up for the first time since Mineta had proudly presented his collection of illegal-for-minors substances. "Really, Iida. We're all mature enough to handle this responsibly. None of the teachers come in here unless they're alerted to a commotion. As long as we don't make too much noise or wreck anything, I don't see the harm."

"So everyone is on board with this?" Iida's face fell to the sound of everyone muttering in agreement. He wasn't going to win this battle. That's the problem with heroes these days, their determination made them stubborn.

"Loosen up, four eyes. We survived three villain attacks as a class and survived. We deserve to celebrate."

"Yeah! Should someone get Mineta, though? It _is_ his stuff, after all."

"If we do he should be in time out the whole time, he is _definitely_ not mature enough to handle alcohol."

The students began preparing for their spontaneous party; Bakugou and Kaminari broke open the bottles and got other refreshments from the fridge. Tsu had the idea to pour the alcohol into a measuring cup and dump it into the drinks so everyone got the same amount. It was the fairest way to split it up, and that way no one drank too much. Iida seemed to simmer down significantly after this. Todoroki, Ochako, and Izuku broke into the pantry and began filling bowls with chips and popcorn, while Sero and Iida took to making pb and js that they neatly cut into squares.

Soon, everyone had a snack and a drink and were huddled around the table in the common area. They thought about setting up one of the gaming consoles, but after Bakugou's and Kirishima's last attempt at playing Mario Kart they thought better of it. "The last thing we need is a drunk Bakugou screaming at the television." Kaminari went back upstairs briefly to retrieve the small angry classmate he had unceremoniously shoved into his closet, and had managed to gather everyone else from class 1A and bring them back downstairs with him.

"Wow, Bakugou, you're a lot nicer when you're not sober!" Ururaka jeered after her second drink, the pink in her cheeks had spread across her nose.

"Shut it, Ururaka, I'm nice all the damn time." Everyone burst into fits of laughter at this -it was uncontrollable- and after getting a nice look at Izuku completely losing his shit over the absurdity of his comment, Katsuki fell into a fit of laughter, too. They stayed in the common room talking and giggling for nearly two hours before Iida made them all get tall glasses of water.

"Do you guys remember that kid that the Pussycats brought to the training camp, what was his name?"

"Kota! He sent me a letter over vacation." Izuku took another long swig out of his cup to empty it before he set it on the table and reached for the popcorn.

"Yeah, he also punched you in the balls."

"He apologized for that! Although it did hurt a lot."

"Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I think about that moment." Heads turned to Bakugou, sitting between Izuku and Kaminari, smiling up at the ceiling. "Hi, nice to meetcha! _WHAM!_ " He punched into the air to imitate the child, unable to keep himself from laughing. He had barely finished his sentence before letting loose the loudest and most hysterical laugh anyone in class had ever heard from him before. For a moment everyone stared at him, utterly bewildered that he was even capable of making such a happy noise, but soon everyone else was in hysterics.

"Everyone, we need to calm down! The monitors will pick up on all this racket!" Iida said, although he was almost too busy trying to contain his own giggles.

"Oi, Bakugou," Kirishima slurred. He set his drink down and clapped his hands together, pointing all of his fingers in Katsuki's direction. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Shut up! You know what I meant." The class broke into giggles again. "I'm serious, I wanna ask you something."

"Well get on with it, shitty hair. We don't have all damn day."

"I know Kaminari asked before and you got all butthurt about it, but what's the deal with you and Midoriya? You've gotten real chummy lately." Suddenly everyone's eyes were on Katsuki and Izuku, who were sitting right next to each other with their legs touching, both trying their absolute hardest not to look embarrassed in the utter silence that followed Kirishima's question. Apparently he wasn't the only person who had been curious.

"What about it? Be more specific."

"We all thought you hated him."

"Yeah, well, I thought I did too. Turns out I was wrong." He chanced a glance to his right and saw the nerd sitting next to him not only had turned bright red, but was giving him a look of utter astonishment, as was the rest of the class. "Does that answer your question?"

Around one in the morning their chatter and boisterous laughter was replaced with steady yawns, and they all agreed it was probably time to clean up and go to bed. The bottles went back to Mineta, who had been put in charge of getting rid of them discreetly, since he was the person who brought them into the school in the first place. They all climbed the stairs to their respective dorm rooms, Katsuki and Izuku trailing at the back.

"Hey, nerd." Katsuki turned, catching the green haired boy off guard. "You still wanna sleep in my room tonight?"


	6. Chapter 6

The question was so soft and gentle, so utterly out of character for the blonde, that it took Izuku five whole seconds before his brain registered it. Although he was already warm and red from the alcohol, he could feel a fresh wave of heat flourish across his face and up into his hair. He looked down at his feet.

"Oh! Um I-if you… if that's alright with you. I mean, if you want me to."

"Idiot. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to. Come on." A hand reached out, and Katsuki gave Izuku's left pinky a soft tug with his forefinger before he turned and started the trek up to his dorm. Izuku looked up in surprise and caught the look on Katsuki's face before he turned away from him to face the stairs. It was an emotion he had never seen Kacchan wear before; he could almost swear he looked nervous.

"What are you looking at, sparky?" The grittiness in Katsuki's voice returned when he saw Kaminari standing at the top of the stairs, eyeing the two of them carefully.

"Oh, nothing." He said with a small smile. "Behave yourselves, you two."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

But his classmate simply turned and disappeared down the hallway without another word. Izuku followed Kacchan without a sound, his heart was beating so fast he was sure it would jump out of his mouth if he tried to open it to speak. In no time they were in front of Kacchan's door, and Izuku suddenly realized he had no idea what his room looked like, nor did any of his other classmates. He hadn't participated in the room tour when they all first moved in, after all. When the door opened, he discovered it was exactly how he had expected Kacchan's room to be. The curtains were black, his bedspread was black, and there was a black rug spread across the floor in between his bed and his desk. A clock hung above the desk, and an All Might poster sat comfortably on one of the walls. All in all, it was pretty plain, but he never took Kacchan as the kind of guy to expend lots of energy decorating. Izuku smiled.

"Just one poster, I see."

"There's a couple more in my room at home, but I'm only gonna be here for three years. Kinda no point in tricking this place out." He turned to Izuku and smirked, knowing all too well just how much time and effort Deku had put into thoroughly All Mighting his room. "Get the laptop off my desk, we can pick up where we left off last time." Katsuki went towards the small half bath every dorm room had. It was just a toilet and sink -the bathrooms were downstairs- but it was a hell of a convenience not having to walk down three flights of stairs every time you had to pee. Izuku obeyed and swiped the computer, unlocked it (he knew the password), and clicked on the Hulu app as he made a beeline for the bed. He had been right, of course, UA had bought the same bed in bulk and distributed them accordingly throughout the dorms. Some of the students had exchanged them for their own beds, but the two of them had not. He couldn't help thinking it was positively adorable that Kacchan had made up an excuse to be in his bed. Maybe they'd be fighting over who's bed was more comfortable the whole time they were in school. He'd be okay with that.

Kacchan returned as the South Park theme began playing to the sight of Izuku already in his bed and under the covers. His heart gave a jolt. _Fuck,_ he thought to himself. There was no point in trying to deny it anymore. He had it bad for this nerd. It had started out so simple; he was just a void he could scream into, a way to put his emotions back in order. But it was a lot deeper than that now. He had opened the doors and let him inside. Kacchan had thrown everything he had at this dork and Izuku had taken it all in stride. He had shown him how to be a proper, fully functioning human being without Katsuki even fucking noticing.

And he was becoming dependent on his presence; wanting to sleep next to him and have him play with his hair and scratch at his back. It didn't help that the kid was fucking adorable, either. Despite his best efforts he found himself more and more daydreaming about those damned freckles. He always noticed them on his face when they were kids; only recently did he discover he had them on his arms and legs, too. He wondered if Deku was covered from head to toe in freckles.

"Kacchan?" He caught Deku's eyes and became suddenly aware that he had been standing in the middle of the room, lost in thought. "You're staring. Is something wrong?" Deku both looked and sounded worried. _Shit, he's probably thinking I changed my mind about him being in here._ Katsuki shook his head.

"No, it's nothing." He made his way to the bed and grabbed at the covers, but the alcohol in his system had drifted all the thoughts he had pushed away throughout the day to the front of his mind, and he couldn't make them go away. He stood at the foot of the bed and felt much like he had the first night he had spent with Deku: wanting desperately to tell him something but unable to find the words. Deku looked up from the laptop and the worried face made a reappearance.

"Seriously, Kacchan, what's the matter?" He scooted closer to the edge of the bed and sat up on his knees. Those big, green eyes were looking right into his soul. _Fucking hell._ Katsuki bit his lip, opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, defeated. "Are you feeling a panic attack coming on? What's going on in there? Come on, talk to me." Katsuki couldn't help it. He giggled.

"Am I acting like I'm going to panic?"

"A little bit, yeah. You keep spacing out."

"That's not it, I promise. I'm fine."

"Well, what is it, then? I wanna know." Deku reached out his hand and linked their pointer fingers together, and Katsuki made absolutely no effort to stop him or pull away.

"I don't- I don't know how to say it." He felt his face burning, ( _the two of us have been blushing a lot today, god damn)_ but he was looking down at those eyes and the freckles that sprinkled across his nose and his cheeks and his lips. Deku had freckles on his lips? How had he never noticed that before? And they looked so soft…

Before he realized what he was doing he found himself leaning towards the other boy. He wasn't sure if it was the liquid courage or not, but Deku didn't seem to mind in the slightest. "You're not pulling away." He whispered. Deku was looking up at him, tilting his head towards Katsuki's face. They were both blushing furiously.

"Nope. Not going to, either."

Katsuki blinked slowly, once, before he closed the gap between them and pressed their lips together.

They kissed three times -short, soft pecks- before he pulled himself upright. Katsuki was right, Deku's lips were very, _very_ soft.

"Whoa." Deku apparently had meant to keep that to himself, because the next second his eyes widened into a look of utter horror. Kacchan smirked.

"What are you freaking out for? Damn Deku. Come on, scoot. You're hogging my bed."

Eager to please, Izuku clambored back up against the wall and let Kacchan slide under the covers. Katsuki laid on his back, pulled the blanket up to his chest and sat the computer on his lap, turning it so the both of them could see. Deku snuggled up next to him, and soon they were watching the cartoon and laughing comfortably with Katsuki's arm around the smaller boy, his head half on his chest and half in his armpit. They fell asleep much the same way they had woken up that morning, only this time the initiation of the cuddling had been with concious minds instead of sleeping ones.

" _You're strong, kid. You'll make a perfect meat suit." His whole body was covered; it felt like he had fallen into a pool of warm pudding, if the pudding was concious and moving and trying to eat him. He could feel warm slick sliding into his ears, pushing into his mouth and up his nose. He couldn't breathe, couldn't open his lungs to suck in sweet oxygen, but he couldn't get them to expel what was inside them, either. It was like someone was pouring hot cement down his throat. It smelled vile, like rancid garbage mixed with decaying human remains. It tasted just about the same. He tried to release himself, tried to explode the foul thing off of him, but it only made the sludge more eager to take him. His vision became spotty, little black dots grew larger to cloud his conciousness. This was it. He was dying. He wasn't strong enough to free himself from this evil and he was going to die because of it. His last memories would be painful and terrifying. His limbs were giving up, refusing to move as the last of the oxygen left his body. He opened his eyes frantically and looked for someone,_ anyone _, to help him._

Katsuki awoke with a start and his eyes flew open as he sat bolt upright in bed. His lungs were screaming painfully, and he was sure if he had the ability to fill them with air he would be screaming, too. His breaths were coming short and quick and unfulfilling; hot tears were flowing freely and he had broken into a sweat despite the fact that he was shivering frantically from head to toe. He became vaguely aware of a presence moving next to him as it shifted, slowly, to sit in front of him. He felt hands cup his face, very gently, and when the thumbs wiped the tears away from his eyes he could see Deku crouched in front of him.

"Kacchan, it's okay. You're okay." Izuku spoke softly, almost whispering. Katsuki's breathing was frantic and panicky; he was hyperventilating but he could do nothing to stop it. "Try to take a deep breath. Do it with me. Come on, you can do it. Focus on me. Take a breath in." Izuku had started to count to three, slowly, over and over again, giving Kacchan instructions. This was a tactic he had used before on himself. Breathe in for three counts, hold for three, breathe out for three. It took four tries but soon after Katsuki's breathing returned to normal. "Good, that's it. You're okay now." Izuku's hands slid from his cheeks into the blonde hair behind his head and pulled him into his chest.

An overwhelming feeling of relief swept over Katsuki and a fresh wave of tears started to flow. It was a dream. Just a dream. It wasn't real, not anymore. The sludge villain was gone, and he was here with Deku. Fingers began to move in his hair, scratching softly at his scalp. "It's okay, Kacchan."


	7. Chapter 7

It had taken a while for the tears to stop completely. Izuku had pulled the other boy into his lap and cradled his head and shoulders into his chest, soothing him with soft touches and encouraging words, wiping the tears away gently as they came. Now he was calmed down and had all but cried himself back to sleep, sniffling here and there. Izuku looked down at the stains on his cheeks and frowned. _If all of his dreams are like this, I'm never leaving his side again._

"Hey, are you awake down there? Or did you tire yourself out?" Kacchan's eyes fluttered open as he let out a small grunt. "Here, lay down. I'm going to get you a glass of water." Katsuki had no energy or will to argue, letting Izuku scoot him off of his lap and back onto the bed. Deku took as little time as he could, grabbing a cup off the desk and filling it with water from the sink. He coaxed the blonde into a sitting position and sat with him for a full ten minutes until the cup had emptied twice. If it wasn't four thirty in the morning, Izuku would have urged him to take a hot shower, but he could see Kacchan had completely exhausted himself and probably would not be up for a trip downstairs. "Come on, let's go back to sleep." They settled back into bed and Katsuki pulled himself back into Deku's chest, surprising the smaller boy when he wrapped both arms around his waist and buried his face into his shirt. Deku had never seen him act like this before, so afraid and broken. He laced his right hand back into the blonde locks and put his other arm around his waist, rubbing circles into his back. Kacchan was snoring within minutes, but Izuku stayed awake for some time after that.

He had an idea about what Katsuki's dreams were like after a few months of being told all about them, but he had never actually seen the effect they had on him in person. It was no wonder he wandered around campus at night; Izuku would probably avoid going to sleep altogether if he knew that was how he was going to wake up. Whenever they had stumbled upon each other late at night he had noticed the red eyes and puffiness beneath them but he never brought it up. Izuku himself cried all the damn time, he knew it didn't take a lot of tears to screw up your face. But this wasn't a few tears. This wasn't a small scare. Something had literally terrified Kacchan to the point of uncontrollable sobbing, and he hated it. He thought back to only a few hours earlier, when Kacchan was laughing hysterically with the rest of his classmates with happiness written all over his face, and his heart lurched. He tightened his grip on Katsuki and nuzzled his nose into the base of his hairline just above his forehead.

.

They had woken up still tangled together around nine that morning. It was Sunday, their last off day before returning to classes. Katsuki woke first and had tried to release himself from Deku's grip without waking him, but failed.

"Kachaaan, where are you going? You're comfy." Sleepy hands grabbed for Katsuki and pulled him back towards the mess of green curls wrapped up in his blanket. Katsuki couldn't deny it _was_ comfortable as hell.

"Let go of me, damn Deku. I have to pee." Izuku pouted, sticking his bottom lip out and furrowing his brow like a kindergartener, but he released his grip. Despite himself Katsuki smiled. It was just too damn cute. The blonde got up and headed for the toilet, shutting the door behind him and letting out a sigh. _Fucking hell, did I really cry in Deku's lap last night? That was so god damn embarrassing._ He had never been one to show it, and he had unleashed real terror onto Deku last night. What the hell was that? Did his impaired mind decide to play tricks on him? Or was he just broken? Was Deku going to think less of him because of this? He relieved himself, washed his hands, and splashed some cold water on his face before turning to face the door again. When he crossed the threshold he found Izuku sitting upright and cross-legged on his bed, looking through is phone. He looked worried. God damnit.

"What are you frowning about now, nerd?" Izuku looked up and was greeted with a look of irritation. Great. He knew where this was going. Just like all the other times he had reached out to help him: when he fell in the creek when they were kids, the sludge villain, when Shigaraki pulled him through the warp gate. A tantrum was coming on, and probably a big one. But Izuku would be damned if he just rolled over and took it. Not this time, not ever again. Enough was enough.

"Alright listen here, you absolute shithead!" Izuku said in a voice much unlike his own, puffing out his chest. He almost broke at the sight of Katsuki's face turning from angry to shocked; Izuku rarely spoken to him like this. The last time was at Ground Beta, and they had both walked away battered and bruised. "I know what you're going to say and you can save it! You're a human being, not a god, you're allowed to have feelings. You had a completely normal reaction and I'm not going to look down on you for it. I never have and I never will. Honestly, I don't get why I have to keep telling you this. You could have gotten through it on your own, I know that. You do it all the time. It's not that you're not strong or capable enough to manage this on your own. I know you're strong and amazing and it's why I admire you so much." Despite his best efforts he could feel himself getting red in the face. Kacchan just watched him, wide eyed and speechless. "I care about you a lot, Kacchan, and if you fall I'm going to help you get back up, whether you fucking like it or not! Wipe that smirk off your face!" His hands had balled into fists and he was looking at the blonde with such a look of determination that for the second time that morning Katsuki was reminded of a small angry child. The fact that he was cursing at him made it even worse. It didn't suit him in a way that made him adorable. Somewhere down the line he was going to have to explain to Deku that he was like a puppy when he got angry.

Katsuki approached the green haired boy now and climbed back into bed, sitting cross-legged and facing him. He sighed.

"You know, you're right. About some things." This caught Izuku off guard. He stared at Kacchan, bewildered, but let him continue. "I get angry at people when they try to help me because it makes me feel like they think I can't help myself and it makes me feel weak. I get defensive and push people away because of it. It's part of what makes me such an asshole, I know that." This was something Kacchan thought he would never get used to, opening up and showing his feelings. It was so bizarre and unnatural for him, yet when he was with Deku it was like turning on a faucet. It just kept coming. "But if I'm being honest, I would have had a much harder time getting through last night by myself. I really thought I was dying, at first. Then I saw you and heard you talking to me and it brought me back to reality. Normally when I wake up like that I sit here for thirty minutes before I realize I'm even awake. You pulled me right out of it, though. It was amazing." Deku was doing what he normally did when Kacchan started on a tangent; he sat and listened intently, his eyes wide and focused. Though, he couldn't help blushing a little at the inadvertent praise Kacchan was giving him. "It was about the sludge villain. I was choking on that gross freak and I couldn't do anything about it. I haven't had one of those dreams in so long, that's probably why it was so bad this time." He paused. "You really still think I'm amazing after seeing me like that?" It had come out much gentler than he had wanted. Great. He was getting soft.

"Of course. I really don't get why you think I would think any less of you. You're not going to punch me for disagreeing with you this time, are you?" Both of them smiled.

"Ha. No. You have my word. No more decking you just because I'm upset about something." They sat in silence for a moment, simply enjoying each other's company. Who would have thought they would end up like this?

"Kacchan, can I ask you something?" Izuku had gone back to his old self, nervous and clammy. He put a hand behind his head and scratched at his scalp, unsure of how he should proceed.

"Go for it."

"Last night, before we fell asleep. We were all drinking and laughing and having a good time. I know my endorphins were on high, yours probably were, too." Izuku looked like he wanted to vomit, there were only a few other times when Katsuki had seen him this nervous. "What you did last night, was it you? Or was it the alcohol?" His face was burning. Poor Deku had probably been thinking about this since that moment. Kacchan frowned.

"What? When I kissed you?" Deku's blush shot up into his hair again and his arms raised to cover his head.

"Y-yeah."

"You idiot. Look at me." Katsuki grabbed the other boy by his wrists and pulled them away from his face. "We didn't drink so much that I wasn't aware of my surroundings or what I was doing or anything like that. If I didn't want to kiss you I wouldn't have. I may be an asshole but I care about you a lot, too." Had he said that last part out loud? Deku's eyes widened dramatically and his mouth fell open; he could swear the dork was on the verge of tears. Shit, he _had_ said that last part out loud.

"You mean it?"

"Do you need proof?" They were sitting in front of one another, cross-legged with their knees touching. Katsuki leaned toward his blushing classmate, who had pulled his arms into his chest nervously. "Come here." He put a hand behind Deku's neck and pulled the boy's bewildered face towards his own. He didn't have to try very hard, though, because when Izuku realized what was happening he lurched forward of his own free will. Their lips crashed together and Izuku felt fireworks burst in his stomach. This was really happening, it wasn't a fluke. Kacchan actually felt the same way Deku felt about him and it was exhilarating. It felt like getting accepted into UA all over again.

Deku wouldn't like to admit how long he had been thinking about moments like this with explodo boy, and he had never imagined Kacchan to be such a sweet kisser.

Their lips slanted over each other, slowly, Kacchan taking his time to feel all of those speckled lips. It wasn't like the first kiss they had shared. The first time had been soft, quick, cautionary. Deku could feel Kacchan on him now, as if he didn't want to be anywhere else. Their lips parted with a _smack_ and the blonde pulled away by an inch. Oh god. Deku had never been this close to Kacchan before. _Those eyes._ His eyes were red, he always knew that. How could you not notice? But now he was _so close_ and the streams of light peeking through the windows made the room so bright he could see many different shades swirling around; reds and greys all mixing together like lava. It made him look invincible. Deku closed the gap this time, their eyes fluttering shut as they leaned into each other. Kacchan smirked when their mouths connected and it sent a jolt from Deku's lips all the way down his spine to pool in his stomach.

Deku's arms stretched up to place both hands on his chest. His muscles were bigger than Deku's, something that had been the case for literally all of their lives, and he reveled in the chance to feel them beneath his palms. Kacchan's hand widened its grip on Deku's neck, extending his fingers into the base of his hair. They stopped only to come up for breath. When their lips broke apart again they were wet and swollen, and when Deku looked up into those eyes again he nearly melted. Kacchan gasped when Deku leaned into him again, forcefully. He snaked his hands up Kacchan's chest and shoulders, over his neck and into his hair. He felt the hand in his own hair tighten its grip and pull him forward, and before he knew it Kacchan had pulled Deku on top of him, leaning backward and laying them both down on his bed. Deku was relieved to find Kacchan was having the same problem as he was. With every kiss the pool in his stomach got a little hotter, and it was not helping the situation in his pants. Both of them gasped when their hips came together. This was definitely not how Deku thought this morning would go, but he hoped it didn't stop. Kacchan must have had a similar idea. He slanted his lips over Deku's again, snaking his tongue across the nerd's bottom lip. Deku gasped again at this and Kacchan took the opportunity to explore his mouth. Their tongues swiped across each other and Kacchan felt a hot shiver travel all the way through his body. A breathy sigh slipped through Deku's mouth, giving the blonde another jolt that shot straight to his groin. This was what kissing was like? Holy shit.

Kacchan sucked on the smaller boy's lower lip and bit down, hard. Not hard enough to hurt him, mind, but just enough. When he opened his eyes again and looked into those big green orbs his cock twitched. Deku's face was flushed, something he was used to seeing, but it was the look in his eyes that made his stomach burn. He released his grip on Deku's lip and tilted his head back to get a better look; Deku's pupils were huge, his lids hung low across his eyes and his mouth hung open. He was clearly enjoying this treatment. Katsuki smirked at this, noticing all too well the bulge in Deku's pants lurching slightly against his own as he did so. He let go of Deku's hair, untangling his fingers from the strands and snaked his hand down the back of his neck to rest between his shoulder blades. This sent a shiver through the smaller boy, as he was used to being the one doing the touching, not being touched. He had played circles into Kacchan's back many times but Kacchan had never reciprocated before. Deku's body was moving before he thought about what he was doing. He sat upright abruptly, hiked his legs up, and sat directly on Kacchan's dick. He could feel it, twitching, getting harder underneath him. Katsuki's lips parted and he gasped quietly. His cheeks had turned a deep red and he was looking at Deku in a way he had never been looked at before. Slowly, gently, he pressed his weight into the boy below him and rocked his hips. Kacchan gasped again, louder this time. The blonde moved his hands to rest on top of Deku's thighs, just above his knees. "Kiss me." Deku didn't have to be told twice. He leaned forward and their lips crashed together again, this time more demanding, more needy.

He wanted to be closer to Deku, so much closer. His hands grabbed at the dense muscles in his thighs, massaging and slowly working upward, never relenting the contact between their lips. His tongue was in his mouth again and Deku let out a groan. Oh fuck, that was hot. He wanted to make Deku make that noise again. His hands worked their way up to Deku's hips, grabbing them forcefully. He pushed Deku into him as his hips lurched upwards, making his cock twitch at the contact. It felt so wonderful, Deku on top of him. The green haired boy pulled his lips away from Kacchan's and began placing hot, open mouthed kisses against his cheek, across his jawline, onto his neck. If Katsuki hadn't already been rock hard, the feeling of Deku's lips all over the sensitive skin on his neck definitely would have done the trick. He couldn't help it, a moan fell from his lips as he tilted his head to give Deku more access. Deku began to rock his hips into him again and he felt a hand grab at his wrist, pulling it between them. Katsuki understood. His hand slipped into Izuku's sweatpants and gripped him through his underwear. He could feel Deku's hot breath against his neck as he gasped and panted under his touch, sending shivers down the blonde's spine and urging him on. He massaged Deku slowly, firmly. He palmed at the sensitive spot just below the head of his cock and was rewarded with a low, drawn out moan right in his ear. Deku sat up suddenly, placing both arms on either side of Kacchan's head. His eyes were closed and his brows had furrowed; his mouth hung open and he continued to let sounds escape past his lips that kept Kacchan's grip on his cock firm and unrelenting.

He discovered he absolutely loved seeing Deku like this, all hot and bothered. He wanted to make him feel good. He released his grip slightly to slip his hand beneath the nerd's underwear, to which his eyes shot open and looked down in time to see his cock being pulled out of his underwear and wrapped in Kacchan's fingers. The sight made his mouth water. To his great surprise, he felt a sudden heat. Was Kacchan using his quirk? Could he even use it like that? The answer, evidently, was yes, because when he began pumping Deku his hand seemed to get at least ten degrees hotter. Deku slapped his own hand over his mouth in time to muffle the unflattering moan that was now escaping his lips. His rocked his hips in time with Katsuki's hand. It felt amazing. He could feel his need for release rapidly approaching and his head tilted towards the ceiling. Katsuki picked up his pace, picking up on this.

"Oh, oh god." Deku could feel how much this was turning on the boy under him and it made his knees weak. Kacchan was getting off to him getting off; it was sexy and adorable all at the same time. "F-faster." He whispered breathlessly, rocking his hips into Kacchan's hand more urgently now. He looked down and his cock twitched violently; Kacchan was looking up at him, his face was red and his pupils had dilated significantly, and he was grinning. He obliged, tightening his grip and pumping Deku faster, gradually. "Kacchan!" He was trying to keep quiet; they were in dorms, after all. The walls were thin and he had no idea if Kirishima was still sleeping in the room next door or if he had already gotten up and gone downstairs for breakfast. But Kacchan's hand felt so wonderful. "Kacchan, I'm, I'm gonna-" his breath caught in his throat as the grip around his cock tightened and picked up the pace, getting warmer and warmer. His eyes closed again, relishing this amazing feeling. He bit down on his lip when he came. Part of him was worried Kacchan would be mad at the mess, but the rest of him didn't care because it felt so, _so_ good. He frowned when the grip on his dick released and it was exposed to the cold air of the bedroom. He opened his eyes to see he had definietely sprayed all over Kacchan's shirt, but he didn't seem to mind that much. He was still smiling.

"Kind of went off the railing, there, but is that proof enough for ya?" Deku's face split into a grin and he became overcome with giggles. Kacchan couldn't help laughing himself at the sight of Deku's face plastered with happiness.

"Y-yeah. You made your point."


	8. Chapter 8

For a moment they both sat there, smiling and giggling at each other like idiots. Katsuki had never thought his first time being intimate with someone else would end up like this, and with fucking _Deku,_ of _all_ people. He thought it would be weird and awkward and uncomfortable, but it wasn't. Not in the slightest. It was honestly kind of relieving, being like this with Izuku. He felt completely at ease, not judged or pressured at all. There was, of course, still the pressing matter of his leaking dick underneath Deku's wriggling body, but that could wait for now. He looked up at his classmate and couldn't help feeling much happier and more content than he had his whole life. It was a feeling he never wanted to go away.

"You didn't last very long did you, nerd?" Katsuki teased, lifting his drenched shirt away from his torso and tossing it off the side of the bed as carefully as he could, trying not to make a bigger mess and avoiding his hair.

"Sh-shut up, you were using your quirk against me. You didn't play fair."

"When have I ever played fair?" Deku giggled again; that was a sound Katsuki wanted to get used to hearing for sure, as well as a few others. The way he panted the nickname he had given Katsuki when they were kids, for starters. His cock twitched again at this thought; it was so hard it honestly hurt a little bit. Who would have thought the little nerd could have this affect on him? He sat up to greet Deku's smiling lips with his own and felt hands cup his face. They kissed slowly this time, sweetly. Right now he just wanted to be close to Izuku, to feel his body up against his own. Deku apparently had other plans, however, because weight pressed into Katsuki's throbbing cock and sent another wave of heat rippling through his body. He groaned into Deku's mouth, who swallowed it eagerly. He felt fingers in his hair, scratching into his scalp and at the back of his neck.

Their lips broke apart and Deku's hands started roaming all over him. He never noticed it before, but Deku's hands were bigger than his, stockier. They grabbed at the muscles rippling across his shoulders, his chest, his abs. Deku was clearly enjoying the fact that Katsuki was no longer wearing a shirt, and he let him have his fun. Izuku's hands didn't feel threatening like everyone else's; they were needy but gentle. They sent goosebumps up his spine and down his arms, but it was in a way that he didn't want to stop. He let the hands touch every part of him that they could reach, and when they approached his hip bones and gave a gentle squeeze his cock gave another painful lurch. Fuck, Katsuki was going to come before he even pulled his dick out if this kept up. Izuku picked up on this, because the next moment the weight on his groin had been lifted and Deku had reseated himself between his legs.

"Kacchan, I wanna try something." There was a question in his voice, and his normal timid expression was making a reappearance on his face.

"Is it more good touches?" Katsuki said playfully, a smirk on his face. Deku returned the smile, albeit nervously.

"If I do it right, I'm hoping so, yeah." Katsuki didn't know where Deku's mind was headed, but he was eager to find out. Deku grabbed his hips again and scratched at the skin, leaving tiny red streaks in his wake. This was torture. It felt so amazing but Kacchan's ignored dick was screaming in protest.

"Hurry it up already, nerd. Don't leave me hanging." Kacchan wrapped his fingers around Deku's wrist and pulled it towards his groin, groaning and bucking his hips when Deku obliged and, _finally_ , grabbed at the bulge in Kacchan's pants. He squeezed the head, somehow firm yet gentle at the same time, and Kacchan's vision spotted. He couldn't warm up his hand like Kacchan could, but god damn did it feel good regardless. Deku didn't waste much time palming him through the fabric; soon he was hooking his fingers under both his pants and underwear and was pulling it down. Kacchan's hips raised to make it easier, clearly eager for whatever Deku had in mind. A hand wrapped around his freed cock and the green haired boy leaned in to peck Kacchan's lips, sprinkling kisses over his face and down his neck. Kacchan moaned breathlessly when he felt Deku suck the skin on his collarbone between his teeth while he worked him with his hand. He stopped to look at the boy under him, a question in his eyes. "Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?" Kacchan just nodded, his face flaring with heat as he became suddenly aware of where Deku was going with this. He continued his onslaught of kisses, working his way across his chest and down his stomach, stopping to bite at the skin spread across his hip bones.

"Ohhh, fuck." Kacchan's head fell backward, his eyes closing. He was already close, damnit. That felt way too good. A sudden wet heat engulfed the tip of his dick and his eyes shot open again. He looked down and almost came at the sight of his dick in Deku's mouth, those green eyes looking up at him, asking if it was alright to continue. The moan that fell from Kacchan's lips was all Deku needed, apparently. His hand was at the base of his cock, holding it in place as his mouth slowly worked it's way down toward it. Kacchan's vision blurred and he saw stars, it was warm and wet and felt _so fucking amazing._ Deku worked him with his mouth, egged on by the small gasps and groans escaping Katsuki despite his efforts to keep quiet. It didn't take long at all before he was an absolue mess, rocking his hips frantically into Deku's mouth while he sucked. When Deku began pumping his hand in time with his mouth, he lasted thirty more seconds before Kacchan fell back against the bed and grabbed fistfuls of his own hair. "Damnit, Deku, I'm so close." At these words Deku started moving faster, gripping the base of his cock tight with his hand. He pumped once, twice, before Kacchan's breath caught and he moaned low in his throat, releasing the pressure that had been building up inside of him this whole time. To Kacchan's surprise the wet heat didn't abate; he raised his head and looked down at Deku doing his best to suck him dry. clapped a hand over his mouth and let out a groan, exctacy coursing through him. Deku didn't raise his head until he was sure he got every last drop, releasing Kacchan's dick with a wet _pop_ and swallowing.

"Makes less of a mess," he explained with a smile, wiping his mouth. His lips were wet and swollen, and the fact that he had not even hesitated to swallow his load made Kacchan's mouth water, his dick twitching when he saw no trace of his own release. Kacchan lay on the bed, spent, unable to form a single word for minutes. Deku politely pulled his pants back up and, still smiling, laid to rest his head on Kacchan's chest. Kacchan promptly wrapped his arms around the smaller boy as soon as he had settled there. "Didn't last very long, did you?" Izuku couldn't help it; now that he knew he could get away with teasing Kacchan, he was going to do it as often as possible. Katsuki couldn't help laughing, either. This new side of Deku was endearing, though he wasn't going to take it lying down.

"Shut up, damn Deku." Without releasing his grip so he couldn't slip away, he started poking the tips of his fingers into Deku's sides and was rewarded with a loud yelp from the boy laying on top of him. "Oh, what's this?" He continued his onslaught, Izuku thrashing madly to get away all while letting loose a series of loud, uncontrollable giggles that made Katsuki's heart squeeze.

"Ka-Kacchan! Cut it out!" He tried to push Katsuki's arms off of him, but the blonde was too strong, clearly enjoying this way too much to simply give up. They both struggled to get the upper hand and Deku only saw a glimmer of hope when his hand had slipped up into Kacchan's armpit, causing him to make a noise Deku had never heard him make before. He yelped. They both stopped immediately, Deku looking up to see the look of utter horror that was undoubtedly sweeping across his face right now. Deku was right, Kacchan looked more embarrassed than he ever had in his life. An evil grin spread across Deku's face.

"Kacchan, are you ticklish?"

" _No, I'm fucking not!"_

"I think you're lying." Deku's hands went for the kill; he moved too fast for Katsuki to stop him. Before they knew it they were wrestling, both of them screaming and laughing uncontrollably.

"God damnit, Deku get OFF ME!" Katsuki lurched onto his side, trying desperately to get away from the tricky fingers wiggling in his armpits and at his sides. The world spun around them both, and suddenly they found themselves on the ground. They had fallen off the bed. The shock of falling and hitting the carpet had taken the wind right out of them, but when Katsuki realized what had happened another bout of hysterical laughter bubbled up inside of him and escaped past his lips. Deku sat up on his elbows and drank in the sight hungrily; it was so rare to see Kacchan not scowling or looking bored, this was a moment he would etch into the back of his mind to pull out later, throughout the day and probably for the rest of his life. Once Katsuki had started laughing he found he was unable to stop, and soon it made Deku burst out into giggles, too. If they had been given the opportunity they probably would have laid there on Kacchan's floor, laughing until they had no air left in their lungs. But his neighbor had other plans.

They didn't hear the scuffling coming from the other room over their own noises, but Izuku practically jumped out of his skin when there was a sudden loud banging against the door. Shortly after it swung wide open and a very irritated looking Kirishima stood in the threshold.

"Okay I get that you're all buddy buddy now and it's all very new and exciting but I'm trying to sleep here! Can you two knock it the fuck off or go downstairs?! Jesus!" And with that he turned and stalked off back to his dorm, slamming his own door shut.

"Close my door, shitty hair!" Kacchan could hear a muffled "No!" coming from the room next to him. He pried himself off the floor and made his way to the threshold. When he closed the door and turned around, he was surprised to see a very distraught Izuku sitting in the middle of the room. His face had turned bright red and his hands had flown to his mouth. He was muttering.

"We left the door unlocked this whole time? Anyone could have walked in at any moment, not to mention all the noise we were making last night and what if we woke Kirishima up this morning and he heard all of that and had to listen to us? He definitely noticed your shirt on the floor what if he saw the mark on your collar bone oh- oh god how embarrassing-" he continued to mutter into his hands, completely unaware that Katsuki was staring at him. He looked down at the nerd on his floor and couldn't help smiling. He was actually pretty cute when he went off on a tangent like that. How had he never noticed?

"Oi. Izuku. quit nerdin' out." Deku stopped in his tracks. Did Kacchan just-?

"Get off my floor. I need to shower -you probably do, too- and then we can get breakfast or something. Come on. Let's give Kirishima some peace and quiet." He approached the green haired mess on his floor and leaned forward, holding out a hand. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Deku took the outstretched hand and pulled himself into a standing position, gaping.

"You just called me by my name. You didn't call me Deku."

"I did?"

"Y-yeah. You haven't done that since we were kids."

"Why are you so freaked out by me calling you by your name but you're not freaked out by me putting my hand down your pants?" Kacchan smirked. Izuku had reacted exactly the way he thought he was going to. His face became even redder (if that was possible) and his arms flew up once more to cover his head.

"I-I'm just not used to it, is all."


End file.
